"Huh! So, how does this work?" Zoro looked at Zack with confusion.
Zack didn't say anything as he was still shocked by the floating golden box [welcome] in air and from the looks of it only he can see it but soon composed himself deciding to explore it later, snapped his fingers. At this moment, their cards were revealed.
Zoro- 5,6,7 of Heart
Zack- 10, Jack, and Queen of Spade
At this moment, a blue light covered Zack. Suddenly, powerful energy burst out of his body. The floor beneath him cracked as Zoro suddenly backed off.
"Oi, Oi, Oi, don't tell me his strength is increasing." Sanji eyes's widened as he asked.
Slowly, the blue light disappeared and Zack gave off a strange aura. He smiled and looked at Luffy.
"Attack me with your contraction punch!"
Luffy nodded his head and walked in front of him. He contracted his arm and it shrank to the size of a small kid's arm.
Zack stood there and positioned his forearms in front of Luffy. After a few seconds, Luffy raised his arm and released his contraction.
"Gomu-Gomu No- Spring Punch"
Bang!
His fist collided against Zack's forearm. The impact shook the ship itself. It swept away those two weird people to the sea. It seems like after Luffy smacked them in the head, they didn't wake up until now.
As for Usopp and Nami, they clung to the ship. Sanji and Zoro didn't get pushed back and the same goes for Luffy. But, Zack slightly got pushed back. After the collision, Luffy pulled back his fist and looked at Zack with amazement.
"Wow! You blocked it."
"So, your ability does improve your strength. That's amazing. It's simple like you won the bet." Sanji spoke as he lit up the cigarette.
Zack pulled down his arms and smiled.
"Yep! I did win the bet. No, I got the whole gamble for myself. But, there is also a problem with this."
"What problem? I don't see any problem." Usopp asked.
"Well, the problem is if I lose the bet, I will also lose my powers." Zack sighed as his smile faded away.
"What?" All of them shouted at the same time.
Zack raised his hands and calmed down them.
"Don't worry, I have the countermeasure for this. It seems like God listened to my prayer. Think about it. What is our main problem?"
Everyone thought for a while but no one expected Zoro to answer.
"Facing a powerful enemy like that guy."
Zack's smile returned as he nodded his head.
"Yes! Kake-Kake No Mi gives me two abilities. First, Gamble. Currently, I can play two kinds of card games. The first one with Three Cards and the second one is Nine Cards. In the three cards game, I consume all of my luck and put everything in a single gamble."
"But, on the nine cards game, I only consume half of my luck. It means it will also give me the freedom to arrange the cards to win the game just like how Nine Card Game should be. Of course, my power will arrange my opponent's card to its best situation. If I win though, not only do I get powers up but also get my luck back."
"My second ability is Luck Store. In my mind, there is a strange tube that can store luck. It fills up each day a little by little. So, if I don't use my ability often, I can save a lot of luck and if we face a powerful foe in the future, I can use that luck to impact the first ability."
At this moment, the aura coming out of his body disappeared.
"But, those were its abilities. As for how it works, that's a different concept. If I gamble against someone with higher luck, even if I win, I might not get a huge power boost. But, if I gamble against someone with low luck, then I might become the strongest person in this world for a few minutes."
"Third ability is kinda , let just say I am myself not completely sure about it ."
"Just like with Zoro. The card difference between ours wasn't high. My cards were only higher by three cards. Imagine just how much my strength will grow if my opponent gets 2,4,6 Diamond while I get three Aces."
"And, if I use more luck, it instantly decreases the luck of my opponent while consuming itself. That's why if I store a lot of luck, I can bring down someone's luck into negative and then use my remaining to draw the best favorable cards. This is how my power works."
Hearing his explanation, the straw hats except Luffy widened their eyes. It seemed like Luffy stopped paying attention from the middle.
"That means you will be able to save us if we ever get into such a tough situation. Thank God for listening to his prayer." Usopp instantly started praying god and so did Nami.
"Well, this means you don't have to rely on the devil fruit all the time and still can focus on getting stronger. But, it's kinda scary that you have to bet on your power. That's a huge gamble."
"If your luck has dropped to negative, then you would pretty much do for." Zoro said.
Zack nodded his head "I know but that's why I have Luck Meter in my head. As long as I don't carelessly use my devil fruit powers, I won't lose the gamble."
"But of course, there is something else I think this devil fruit can give me. I have just got this devil fruit so I am not sure about it. So, I can't say it but if it works, it would be amazing."
"Anyway, I am glad you would still fight like before." Zoro opened his mouth and nodded his head.
Bam!
Suddenly, he got a punch on his head from Nami as she angrily shouted.
"There is nothing to be glad about."
Zoro ignored her but he couldn't understand why he couldn't dodge her fist.
"Anyway, let's ask Crocus to take us out." Zack smiled and tried to distract Nami. He got the feeling that his fighting style wouldn't change.
Everyone agreed and they eventually went out to Crocus's island.
"Crocus-San, do you often find Devil Fruit inside Laboon's belly?" Zack asked.
Crocus shook his head.
"This is the first time someone has found the devil fruit. It must be a devil's fruit from the previous pirate ship. They tried to fight against Laboon but got their ship wrecked. You should be very lucky that Laboon only swallows you guys."
Hearing his words, everyone gulped down their saliva.
"Flower-Ojisan, is that the name of this whale?" Luffy curiously asked.
Crocus was surprised by Luffy's nickname but didn't get offended by him. He simply nodded his head.
"By the way, what's up with those people? Who are they?" Zack asked.
"Those hooligans! They are trying to kill the whale so that they can feed their entire town for years. They are even worse than pirates. But, I won't let them do that."
"This whale is already suffering too much. He is trying to break the Red Line with his head. A long time ago, a group of pirates came with a small whale. It was fifty years ago. I was still a young man."
"I decided to take care of this whale until they return unfortunately they never did. They have been good friends with Laboon in the West Blue but the journey in the Grandline would be difficult so they left him here." Crocus spoke.
Zack wasn't that interested in this conversation. Just like Luffy, he simply ignored them because he already knew what Crocus was going to say. After a while, they finally left the whale's belly while Luffy invited Crocus to his ship.
Unfortunately, Crocus declined in the normal manner. They didn't think too much since Crocus was already old.
Zack was at this moment, sitting on the deck thinking about his past events.
'In Logue Town, I made a few changes. The legendary moment didn't occur. I guess we won't have any Barto Club in the future. And, marines will also probably be more serious as well.'
'I guess, my luck was truly good to encounter this devil fruit as soon as we entered the Grandline.'
'Now, I have several things I need to focus on and explore the system alone .'
'First, I need to push my body to the level of Luffy or Zoro or Sanji.'
'Second, I need to master Tekkai and Soru.'
'Third, I need to train my Observation Haki.'
'And, finally, I am going to develop my devil fruit. Two abilities huh? I am really curious about what else can it do. Is it only my power that can I bet?'
'Or, can I bet my own life for something even more?'
'I guess, I will find out soon. This new journey won't be that easy. Well, it was never supposed to be easy. I just believed in Luffy's plot armor too much. But now, I guess his plot armor is starting to crumble.'
'Is this my job then? Becoming his plot armor, becoming someone who can protect him till he becomes the Pirate King? Is this why I got this devil fruit?'
'If so, I am all in for it.'